An interesting note this week:
An old friend of mine has been chasing me around the last month or so. Goodness, how I hate shin splints. Up to the end of last year, I was battling them with just aspirin and by following a few of the "cardinal" rules of running, namely:
1) Don't run in one week more than 10% than you ran the previous week
2) Don't run more than 400 miles in any given pair of shoes
3) Make sure you have well-built shoes that provide extra support if you pronate while you run.
Nevertheless, in the end, the shin splints won last year and prevented me from running a last half marathon in November. I assumed that they had arisen as a result of a compressed training schedule leading up to the Hood to Coast relay in August, and after taking from October through mid January off completely, I thought I may have solved the problem. When I started up again a few weeks ago, I started following the same rules, going very slowly and building up my mileage 10% at a time.
And yet, my old nemeses returned. Yargh!
So I embarked on a little experiment. I couldn't understand how I had run all the way through 2009 and the first part of 2010 without any trouble, and then became so debilitated so quickly. The only explanation that I could come up with was that it was my shoes. This week, I ended up breaking all three of the above rules, and I went back to running in my old, worn-out Asics that I first started doing things in over two years ago. Result? Next to no shin pain (though I still occasionally take ibuprofen for my knees, which I imagine also has some effect), and this week I jumped from 18 to 28 miles in a week, at just around 9 minute miles.
Lesson? I suppose "believe in the shoeless revolution" would be most appropriate. I abandoned my overbuilt "supportive" shoes in favor of my older, thinner, lighter shoes, which changed my running stride just enough that nearly all of my maladies disappeared in about 10 days. I can only imagine that going shoeless, or nearly shoeless, would have the same, if not a greater, effect.
I'm considering entering in the "Dog Days" half marathon in Washington city, to take place on the 26th. It's kind of a big race to start the year with, but it will set a good baseline for me for the rest of the season, and plus it's close to home so I don't have to eat into my "time away from home" budget. I have a long run on Saturday coming up. If that goes well, I'm in for the race.
End Transmission.
An old friend of mine has been chasing me around the last month or so. Goodness, how I hate shin splints. Up to the end of last year, I was battling them with just aspirin and by following a few of the "cardinal" rules of running, namely:
1) Don't run in one week more than 10% than you ran the previous week
2) Don't run more than 400 miles in any given pair of shoes
3) Make sure you have well-built shoes that provide extra support if you pronate while you run.
Nevertheless, in the end, the shin splints won last year and prevented me from running a last half marathon in November. I assumed that they had arisen as a result of a compressed training schedule leading up to the Hood to Coast relay in August, and after taking from October through mid January off completely, I thought I may have solved the problem. When I started up again a few weeks ago, I started following the same rules, going very slowly and building up my mileage 10% at a time.
And yet, my old nemeses returned. Yargh!
So I embarked on a little experiment. I couldn't understand how I had run all the way through 2009 and the first part of 2010 without any trouble, and then became so debilitated so quickly. The only explanation that I could come up with was that it was my shoes. This week, I ended up breaking all three of the above rules, and I went back to running in my old, worn-out Asics that I first started doing things in over two years ago. Result? Next to no shin pain (though I still occasionally take ibuprofen for my knees, which I imagine also has some effect), and this week I jumped from 18 to 28 miles in a week, at just around 9 minute miles.
Lesson? I suppose "believe in the shoeless revolution" would be most appropriate. I abandoned my overbuilt "supportive" shoes in favor of my older, thinner, lighter shoes, which changed my running stride just enough that nearly all of my maladies disappeared in about 10 days. I can only imagine that going shoeless, or nearly shoeless, would have the same, if not a greater, effect.
I'm considering entering in the "Dog Days" half marathon in Washington city, to take place on the 26th. It's kind of a big race to start the year with, but it will set a good baseline for me for the rest of the season, and plus it's close to home so I don't have to eat into my "time away from home" budget. I have a long run on Saturday coming up. If that goes well, I'm in for the race.
End Transmission.
posted by napalmbrain at
2:58 PM
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